Hernandez cronies charged with murder

On Friday, authorities slapped murder charges on the two associates of Aaron Hernandez believed to have been with him during the murder of Odin Lloyd.

A Bristol County grand jury returned separate indictments against Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace in the June 2013 slaying, District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter said, via the Associated Press.

Both defendants previously plead not guilty to the charge of accessory to murder after the fact, and bail was set for $500,000. That amount will likely get higher after their arraignment. The date has yet to be scheduled.

Ortiz’s lawyer John Connors ripped the DA’s new charges, calling it “totally ridiculous.” Ortiz was “just along for the ride” on the night Lloyd was killed, he insisted.

“It almost looks to me like they felt they couldn’t use him as a witness, (so) they’re going to charge him?” Connors said. “Why wouldn’t they have done this months ago? There’s no new evidence in this matter.”